Teach Us to Pray - Lent 2019

Passage: Luke 24:1-12    

  Description: For the rest of the world, I suspect the first day of the week after the crucifixion of Jesus unfolded normally. The sun came up. The Roman government continued to rule, perhaps relieved that any remaining followers of Jesus were dispersed and the movement fractured. There was after all a certain price for pax romana so that the status quo could remain intact. Life carried on… Except… according to the gospel of Luke, a mystery was unfolding, dismissed at first as an idle tale until, the facts were confirmed by more than one observation that the tomb where they laid Jesus was empty. These reports were confirmed. The body of Jesus was not there and instead two men in dazzling white clothes stood by the tomb and rather flatly asked why Mary, Johanna and Mary Magdalene were looking for Jesus among the dead. He is not here, said the ones in dazzling white. He is risen. “Remember how he told you that, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words. (Lk.24: 6-8)

Passage: Matthew 6:5-13 & James 5:13-16    

  Description: Are any among you suffering? You should pray. Are any of you cheerful? You should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? You should call others in the church to pray for you, and to anoint you with oil in the name of Jesus. For the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up to their feet, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. So confess your sins and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayers of the faithful are powerful and effective. So writes a follower of Jesus, named James, to the scattered Christian communities. And I’m all with James on the three questions he asks, “Are any among you suffering? Are any of you cheerful? Are any among you sick? But with his next phrases my own questions start coming fast and furious. James states clearly and emphatically that the prayer of faithful will heal the sick and get them walking again, promising that the prayers of the faithful are powerful and effective. Which leaves us in a bit of a quandary, because we all know times when we have prayed for healing for ourselves or a loved one, and it hasn’t happened. This is the kind of scripture passage that it is sometimes more comfortable to avoid, or to shorten – only reading the parts we easily agree with. But that isn’t fair to scripture. We have to decide if we are reading the Bible literally or taking it seriously, rather than avoiding what we aren’t sure about.

Passage: Psalms 28:1-9 & Psalms 29:1-11    

  Description: You are what you pray. According to our HRUC prayer guide, half our plate should have equal portions of “help” and “thanks” while the other half is a full portion of “wow”. Help, Thanks, Wow! For a healthy prayer diet, these are the portions our prayer guide suggests. And this is how we invite you to imagine your prayer diet through our season of Lent and certainly, beyond. One of the best ways to explore what a healthy prayer diet would look like is to delve into the Psalms. The Psalms really are the prayer book of the Bible. The writers of the Psalms are always what they pray. And as a whole, the collection of Psalms demonstrates the prayer guide beautifully with the right portions of help, thanks and wow. Today we have two Psalms back to back that help us see our prayer guide at work. Psalm 28 has equal portions of help and thanks. Psalm 29 is all about wow. Psalm 28 begins with words of help and supplication. The words are so profoundly human as the Psalmists hands are outstretched and lifted up, open to the healing and comfort of God. The psalmist prays to be spared the pit of silence and separation from the voice of God and to be reunited with God’s assuring presence where God’s loving voice can be heard. We’ve all been in this place. We’ve all prayed our supplications for God’s help within the sound of God’s voice. We’ve all experienced the desperation, the silence, and the pain of suffering. We take all that is inside us and externalize it into prayers of help. This is where most of our prayers begin. We have perhaps, no where else to turn, except to voice a prayer-filled SOS.